Friday, January 30, 2009

This is one year old Mcclellan and his daddy. In the background you can see his mommy and sister. I spent last weekend with them. Mcclellan used sign language as an infant, now he often uses it with his words. Lately when Matt leaves for work in the morning, Mcclellan gives him a double "I love you" as he watches from the window. I was blessed with this one.

When Matt was about 4 years old, we were visiting a co-worker of mine. She had a lovely home with lots of antiques, so I was really nervous about taking a toddler in to the house. Mike took him outside to visit with her husband and see the goats he raised. The next thing I heard was Matt screaming bloody murder. He had fallen into the pots of cactus on their front porch. I hadn't any idea what to do. I wanted to take him and leave, but we ended up using tweezers and tape to pull all the fuzzy little spines out of his arms and hands. While we were driving out of the yard we could hear the baby goats crying. Matt said, "Listen, Dad, they're saying my name." We still tease him about it.

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Boy! I have been a lazy blogger. I have been out of town and also wasting way too much time on Facebook. Listen to me. Do not get involved. It will gobble up great chunks of your time, if you let it, and really there is nothing learned. You just always think you might miss something. I'd compare it to a soap opera addiction.

Here are a couple of things I took out to my little booth last week. I consider my stuff collectibles, not necessarily antiques. I started it to weed out some of my collections, but has become self- propagating. I have to keep it stocked, but that gives me an excuse to visit thrift stores and auctions.

Pictured are some cute Fire King coffee mugs and vintage Corelle napkin rings.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

It's a good thing that I have grandchildren. I don't have to look far for a little humor. We made a trip to Famous Footwear (it's that or Walmart) looking for new shoes for Riley. He wanted the plastic shoes shaped like a tow truck. Mom nixed that, so he went looking for something with a little more flash. I think I'll frame this for his 14th birthday.

Sunday, January 18, 2009

My oldest grandson was at church with me when we were taking down the Christmas decorations. The ladder in the last post made me think of it. I don't mind ladders, so I took down the higher decorations. This is 2 year old Riley perusing a low lying nativity.

My son-in-law had some surplus insulation from a demolition project. It looked like a lot, but I needed a lot more. My garage has never been "finished" so I hoped insulating might make the house warmer. I started on the west wall because it gets extremely hot in the summertime. The walls are 10 feet tall and I had a 7 foot ladder. That means having to stand on the top step to reach the top of the wall. I started by rolling the insulation out on the garage floor, measuring and cutting the length I needed. Up the ladder to stuff it between the studs, staple both sides working down the ladder to the floor. Then down on my knees again to cut. It's a good feeling to look at one wall finished. I hope I can walk tomorrow!

Well, I was when I started this post. I am many more minutes older now.

My camera is dead, so I am awaiting a new battery and charger. Can't be sure which one has passed the photo finish line, so I ordered both. That's the excuse I'm using for a post like this. My local grandchildren were here last evening and I missed some great video that you would have loved. Well, I would have, anyway. Being as old as I am, I can't quite recall what they were doing. It will come to me later.

I received an email today with this link for a Birthday Calculator. Check it out for some interesting trivia.

Monday, January 12, 2009

I was looking through some old files for pictures to share. Pictures that weren't lost when my hard drive gave me the "blue screen of death", but that's a story that doesn't bear telling. Backup-Backup-Backup!

My husband had a keen interest in many different things. As a 6'4" big guy he wasn't interested in watching football or basketball but he enjoyed a little golf and skiing. He was known to say "If it doesn't have wheels it isn't a sport". Most of these hobbies eventually involved the whole family. Pictured here is a steam traction engine that he, his brother and the kids restored. They took it to thresher and tractor shows to exhibit and put on demonstrations. He and his brother acquired it several years ago, but the operation and restoration were his specialty. Incidentally, he was the antique boiler inspector for the entire state.

Our son was initially the one who got him interested. As a little boy, he liked to go to the Thresher Show and was too young to go without an adult. So Dad started to go also, taking the camper and little sister and spending the whole week. Marcy was small enough they had her crawl inside the boiler to help check the thickness of the steel. Boiler rat was the affectionate name she acquired.

Marcy, a few years later just looking cute! I think she may have been in college then. Now, she is the mother of 2 of the cute kids you see on this blog.

This was the part I couldn't bear to watch. The tractor is loaded on a trailer behind a semi-truck with a cable and an electric winch. Because of the steel wheels and ramps, there can be a lot of slipping. For traction, planks have to be laid on the trailer and to support the floor from the weight of the 20,0000 pound engine. The iron wheels also drive over the top of the rubber tires before reaching the resting place for the ride. People just love to watch this, but I was always afraid there would be an accident. The worst that ever happened was spectators standing too close and getting sprayed with soot and water!

The engine burns coal to heat the water to create steam, but wood will work. Coal just burns hotter.

My brother-in-law still takes the engine to one area Thresher Show, and my kids still help with the maintenance and operation. It's a time when all the whole family gets together.

Friday, January 9, 2009

I just noticed this is my 100th post. I really should do something special but I already had a topic I wanted to talk about. I just read this and am trying not to be judgemental. But really! I don't like to wear pantyhose anytime so I can't understand why a man would. For warmth, I would rather wear silk long underwear than pantyhose. The support hose thing is understandable, but I guess I've just let myself go and the men are taking the lead. Well, some men. If you have a husband, ask him what he thinks of this concept and let me know if I'm truly out of touch.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Goodness! I just can't seem to get back into blogging. It's been a roller coaster ride during this holiday season. It seems that it always is, though. We get so wrapped up in plans, activities, family and gifts that we fail to remember that it's all about the birth of our Saviour.

A week before Christmas one of my favorite uncles died. He'd been slowly succumbing to a lung disease brought on by exposure to asbestos during WWII. He kept up a cheerful attitude throughout these last 3 years. Hardly able to breathe after a walk from the bedroom to the kitchen and bent with pain from back problems that had plagued him for years, he still kept his good nature.

He and my mother's sister married quite young. After he showed up for their first date on a motorcycle, my Aunt Doris said Grandma told her that she would always have orange crates for cupboards.I guess that was her definition of poverty. They did, eventually, live in very nice homes.

His ship was off the coast of Japan when the armistice was signed. He drove a big rig for years and had many teamster awards. Once after hearing of a kidnapped woman on the CB, he followed the car and blocked the road with his truck until the police arrived. He outlived a newborn daughter and a 24 year old son.

When his health began to fail, they sold most of their possessions and their home, bought a motorhome and spent the winters in Arizona and traveled to see family and friends during the rest of the year. He said that was his dream to have done that. Even this last year they bought a little red Volkswagen just for fun. Looking at this picture of the young man with the dreamy eyes and bushy eyebrows. Do you suppose he ever imagined what life had in store? I think his example to me was that he lived his life to the fullest. Through heartbreak and tough times, he still found things to wonder at and enjoy.

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About Me

I'm a grandmother in my fifties, who likes to travel in an old RV. I started blogging in April of 2008 to chronical a month long trip I took in the motorhome to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity. I lost my best friend and husband to cancer in 2005. I began working with the Care-a-vanner's the following summer. I've met some wonderful people, made new friends, visited new places and helped to build 10 houses. I find it difficult to be idle, so when I'm home I volunteer at church, spend time with my grandchildren and work partime for a brokerage firm.